NGSC Sports

River Hawks Sweep Twin Bill Against Fairfield

River Hawks Sweep Mother’s Day Twin Bill Against Fairfield

It was a very good Mother’s Day if you were a UMass Lowell River Hawk. They swept a doubleheader from the Fairfield Stags, by a 7-4 count in game one, and 3-1 in game two.

As River Hawk head coach Ken Herring stated after the game, “pitching ruled the day”. The River Hawks also put some runs on the board. DH Steve Passatempo had three RBI and three hits for the two games, and leadoff hitter, Colby Maiola, was on base six times on the day with five stolen bases.

In game one the home team jumped out on top in the first by scoring twice in the bottom of the first against Stags starter Trey McLoughlin. Maiola lead off getting hit by pitch, he then stole second base. Mark Tumosa followed by getting on with help of a throwing error by Fairfield SS Jack Gethings. After Russ Olive flew out for the first out of the inning, the River Hawks got back to back RBI singles by Passatempo and Michael Young to put UMass Lowell up 2-0.

Fairfield got on the board in the second inning versus River Hawks starter Jack Reilly. First baseman Anthony Boselli drove a Reilly pitch just above the yellow line in left for his third home run of the season. 2-1 Lowell after two.

The River Hawks added to their lead in the fifth as a walk to Olive was followed by a bad pickoff throw from Mcloughlin that sent Olive to third base. He would score on the second error of the game by Gethings on a ground ball from Passatempo. The gift run gave UMass Lowell a 3-1 advantage.

The lead did not last long, the Stags tied the game in the sixth by scoring twice. With one down, third baseman, Mitch Williams singled to left field and moved up to second on a base hit to left by Catcher Kevin Radziewicz. They would both move up on a wild pitch from Reilly. Williams crossed the plate on a bloop hit just over the mound by Boselli. Radziewicz then scored on the second wild pitch of the inning by Reilly. 3-3 after six.

The game belonged to each team bullpen in the latter stages of the game. The River Hawks pen would be a little better. In the seventh, a Tumosa walk against relief pitcher, Tristan Amone was followed up by a steal of second base. It would prove to be a key move as one batter later, Passatempo came through with his second hit and RBI of the game when he knocked one into left field. The two RBI give him 30 on the season. The River Hawks regained the lead at 4-3 after seven frames.

Fairfield did not go away, as they re-tied the game in the eighth off of Rocky Constant. After Constant retired the first two hitters he faced. Boselli hit a routine grounder to third base, that UMass Lowell third baseman John Polichetti threw away for a two-base error. The mistake was costly as the next batter, Tim Zeng, took advantage of the miscue by singling to center field to drive home Boselli and tie the game again at 4-4.

The River Hawks finally gave themselves some breathing room by putting up a three-spot in the bottom of the eighth. The victim of this outburst was the third Stags relief pitcher Brendan Hankin. A Climo double to left got it started. One out later, he would score the go-ahead run on a base hit to right by Ben Prada. The River Hawks would add two more runs before the inning was over to take a 7-4 lead.

Coach Harring called on Luke Tomczyk to close it out, and that’s just what he did. A scoreless ninth for his fourth save of the season made a winner of Constant for the first time this year. Harkin takes the loss (0-3).

Game two was all about River Hawks starter Nick Rand, who Harring said after the game “had no-hit stuff”. He threw the first complete game of his career. The one-time closer of this team, threw 112 pitches, 68 for strikes. He gave up four hits and one earned run. He struck out five, walked two and threw a wild pitch.

The River Hawks, as was the case in the first game, jumped out in the first of game two. Colby Maiola led off with a bunt single up the third base line. During Olive’s at-bat, Maiola would steal second and third, part of a four stolen base game and five on the day to give him 17 for the year. A Passatempo sac fly scored Maiola. Olive crossed the plate one batter later on an infield hit by Michael Young, part of a three-hit day for him. 2-0 River Hawks.

UMass Lowell played long ball in the fourth, Climo went deep of Fairfield starter Josh Arnold. The blast hit off the scoreboard in left for his second home run of the campaign.

The only trouble Rand got into took place in the fifth. Dan Ryan doubled to left-center and moved up on a Rand wild pitch. He then scored on a single to left by Tom Ryan to make the score 3-1 Lowell.

Rand finished the game off to pick up win number two on the year against three defeats. Arnold took the loss to drop to 2-5 on the year. With the doubleheader sweep, the River Hawks improved to 22-25. Fairfield drops to 21-27.

UMass Lowell will hit the road for a pair of mid-week games. On Tuesday they visit Bryant, then on Wednesday, they travel to Siena.